Cooking With Tomato Paste: How to Brown It and Build Deeper Flavor

Tomato paste is one of the most concentrated tomato ingredients in the kitchen. A small amount can deepen sauces, soups, stews and braises, especially when the paste is cooked before liquid is added.

The key is knowing when to add it, how long to cook it and what to do with the leftover paste when a recipe only needs a tablespoon or two.

What Is Tomato Paste?

Tomato paste is made by cooking tomatoes down and removing much of their water, skins and seeds until a thick, concentrated product remains. Although tomato paste may seem like a fairly uniform ingredient, flavor and seasoning can vary noticeably from one brand to another.

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Salt: Some tomato pastes contain added salt, while others are made primarily or entirely from tomatoes. An unsalted paste gives you more control over the final seasoning of a dish.

Acidity and sweetness: Tomato variety, processing and concentration can affect the balance of sweetness and acidity. One paste may taste bright and sharp, while another may taste sweeter, deeper or more intensely tomato-forward.

Added ingredients: Check the label for salt, citric acid, herbs, garlic or other ingredients. A flavored paste may work well in one recipe but change the flavor of another.

Packaging: Tomato paste is commonly sold in cans and resealable tubes. Cans are practical when you need a larger amount, while tubes are convenient when a recipe calls for only a tablespoon or two.

Why Cook Tomato Paste Before Adding Liquid?

Adding tomato paste directly to a liquid will still provide tomato flavor, but cooking it first gives you another layer of flavor. Add the paste after sautéing aromatics and let it cook in the fat for a minute or two, stirring frequently, until its color deepens and it begins to stick slightly to the pan.

This step cooks away some of the raw-tasting notes and develops deeper roasted and savory flavors. Keep an eye on the pan, though—concentrated tomato solids can scorch quickly.

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Velvet Tuscan Marinara – The Ultimate Thick Dipping Sauce for Fried Appetizers demonstrates this technique well.

After the onions, garlic and Aleppo pepper are sautéed, the tomato paste cooks for 2–3 minutes until it deepens in color.

That brief browning step develops the paste’s flavor before the sauce moves on to the next stage.

Deglaze After Browning the Paste

Once the tomato paste has darkened, add broth, water, wine or another recipe liquid and scrape the browned tomato and aromatic bits from the bottom of the pan.

Those dissolved browned bits become part of the sauce instead of staying behind on the cookware.

Using Tomato Paste With Canned Tomatoes

Tomato paste does not have to replace canned tomatoes. It can reinforce them.

Crushed, diced or puréed tomatoes provide volume and fresh tomato character, while paste supplies concentration and body.

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Can Tomato Paste Thicken a Sauce?

Yes. Adding a spoonful or two of tomato paste is a quick way to give a thin tomato sauce more body while also intensifying its tomato flavor.

Because tomato paste contains concentrated tomato solids with much less water than canned tomatoes, even a relatively small amount can noticeably change the consistency of a sauce.

Start with 1 to 2 tablespoons, stir it thoroughly into the simmering sauce and give it a few minutes to incorporate.

If the sauce still seems too thin, you can add a little more. Taste before adjusting the final seasoning, especially if the tomato paste contains added salt.

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Yellow Summer Squash Pasta & Sauce is a good example. The puréed tomato sauce starts out somewhat soupy, so 2 tablespoons of tomato paste are stirred directly into the sauce to give it more body before it finishes simmering.

Keep in mind that there is no standard amount of tomato paste for every recipe.

The amount depends on what the paste is doing in the dish and how prominent you want its concentrated tomato flavor to be.

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Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole, for example, uses an entire 6-ounce can, while Instant Pot Nigerian Jollof Rice uses just 1 tablespoon.

Tomato Paste in Soups, Stews, and Braises

Tomato paste is particularly useful in dishes that cook in plenty of liquid because its concentrated flavor is dispersed throughout the pot.

Brown it with onions, garlic or spices before adding the main liquid whenever the recipe and cooking method allow.

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Tomato Paste With Meat and Vegetables

Its concentrated savory flavor also works beyond traditional pasta sauce. Tomato paste can become part of a glaze, meat sauce, stuffed vegetable filling or skillet sauce.

How to Freeze Leftover Tomato Paste

If you open a can and only need part of it, portion the remaining paste into tablespoon-sized amounts on parchment paper or in a small freezer tray. Freeze until firm, then transfer the portions to a freezer-safe container or bag. Label the container so you know what it is and when you froze it.

A frozen tablespoon can usually go directly into a hot soup, sauce or skillet and will thaw quickly as it cooks.

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